Thousands embrace sex work to fund university costs, study finds

Roughly one in 20 UK students has worked in the sex industry to earn money while at university, a new study has found. Many students are motivated by financial reasons, while others are driven by curiosity.

The study, which is part of the
University of Swansea’s ‘Student Sex Work
project,’ is the
culmination of three years’ research involving 6,750
students.

In a climate of high
tuition fees and rising living costs, over 50 percent of student
sex workers in Britain are motivated by the need to earn money,
the report said. Some 45 percent wish to avoid debt, it
added.

The research found more
men than women engage in sex work, while both sexes engage in
‘direct’ and ‘indirect’ activities. Direct sex work
involves contact with clients and includes prostitution. Indirect
work, however, includes modeling and phone sex.

Economic and other motivations

A motivating factor for 56 percent of student sex workers was the
need to pay for basic living expenses. Some 64 percent said they
wished to fund a particular lifestyle. Avoiding or reducing debt were also
major financial motivations uncovered by researchers.

Young people studying in the UK today can expect to leave
university with about £50,000 of debt when maintenance loans are
factored in. This figure could be larger when personal debt is
included.

More than half of UK universities charge £9,000 per year for
tuition fees, the maximum allowed by law.

According to the report, the findings “make it clear that for
a significant number of student sex workers, sex work is embarked
upon to assist with [university] fees and/or to avoid/reduce
mounting student debt.”

“Thus, as long as students are expected to contribute high
amounts of money to their education, and considering the rising
cost of student living, it is unlikely that the number of
students who turn to sex work will go down.”

"It's not a sexual dominance thing. It's aggression. Just - you
don't like women do you?" Student sex worker describes her
prostitution.

Money was not the sole motivation however, with 54 percent of
students citing curiosity as a reason for entering the sex
industry. Some 59
percent said they thought they would enjoy the work, while 44
percent were motivated by sexual pleasure.

Although the majority of students reported feeling safe in their
work, a quarter of respondents did not and half of those engaging
in direct sex work said they feared violence while on the job.

University support needed

Lead researcher, Dr. Tracey Sagar, called on universities to act
on the findings.

“We now have firm evidence that students are engaged in the
sex industry across the UK. The majority of these students keep
their occupations secret and this is because of social stigma and
fears of being judged by family and friends,” she said in a
statement.

“We have to keep in mind that not all students engaged in the
industry are safe or feel safe.

"It is vital now that Universities arm themselves with
knowledge to better understand student sex work issues and that
University services are able to support students where support is
needed,” she added.

Sagar and co-researcher Debbie Jones were alarmed to discover
that a fifth of students working in the sex industry sought
counseling. That figure jumped to 51 percent for those engaged in
direct sex work.

“We know through our research that some students are
disclosing to University staff, but we also know that staff and
support services can feel unconfident or unsure about their
ability to offer the right support,” Jones said.

“This is why the next stage of the project is to develop and
implement training packages for University staff and student
support services,” she added.

Sagar argued it was important to include men in any initiatives.
“Sex work is widely but wrongly perceived to be an occupation
that is predominantly taken up by women,” she said.

“This means that males may fall through the student support
net because they are not associated with sex work
occupations.”